The British bid to host the Grand Depart of the 2026 Tour de France has been abandoned after UK Sport confirmed that the pursuit of the world's biggest bike race had been downgraded to merely an 'opportunity' in 2027.
"We are not actively pursuing hosting (the Tour) in 2026," Simon Morton, Deputy CEO at UK Sport said.
Although Stuart Andrew, of the Department of Culture Media and Sport and British Cycling CEO, Jon Dutton, stated recently that feasibility studies were "ongoing," the bid to bring the Tour back to Britain is very much on hold.
The news comes after growing speculation that the bid — announced in Rishi Sunak's autumn budget in 2021 — was in trouble, with uncertainty now surrounding the use of a £30 million pound package that targeted hosting more world-class events in Britain.
After Tour de France director, Christian Prudhomme, and five time Tour winner Bernard Hinault were guests at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow last year, there was widespread speculation that a 2026 Tour start, focussed on Glasgow and Edinburgh, was already agreed.
However, in intervening months, the cost of living crisis, the political uncertainty surrounding Prime Minister Sunak's future, allied to the climate facing government-funded sporting events, and the growing influence of Saudi Arabia in world sport, all appear to have combined against the 2026 bid.
In October 2021, then British Cycling CEO Brian Facer had said: "We’re delighted to be supporting the UK Government’s bid to bring the sport’s showpiece event back to these shores in 2026."
"We look forward to working alongside the UK Government, devolved administrations and UK Sport to deliver a compelling vision for the 2026 Grand Depart...”
Today however, UK Sport chair, Kathryn Grainger, said that "our country faces significant challenges in maintaining its track record of securing and delivering the world's biggest sporting events" and added that the "UK's future pipeline of mega events is tightening."
Although the location of the 2026 Tour's Grand Depart is yet to be confirmed, Rotterdam and Barcelona have both been touted, although the Dutch city is hosting the opening stages of this year's Tour de France Femmes.
With British Cycling seeking a boost to their hopes of salvaging the men's and women's Tours of Britain, a Grand Depart in 2026 would have been good news. However, sources at British Cycling remain optimistic and suggested that there would be "no impact" on efforts to reboot both races.
